Toe-dancer&#39;s shoe



sept. 8, 192s. i 1,553,196

J. L.` SOLOMONOFF TOE DANCERS SHOE Filed March 51, 1925 INVENTOR Patented Sept. 8, 1925. .o

ICE.

JULIA L'oLA'soLoiroNoFr, or NEW YORK, N. Y.

4. 'roE-nANonns SHOE.

Application led March 31, 1925..y Serial No. 19,605.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JULrAl LOLA SOLO- MONOFF, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city o-f New York, in the county of New York and Sta-te of New York, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in a Toe-Dancers- Shoe, of which the following is a` specification. This invention relates to aftoe dancers shoe, more particularly thatY type 'of shoe where, in the` execution of certain dance steps, vthe performer is poised upon the eX- treme toe portion of the foot. l

. In'an article o-f ,his lindwhere support is usually obtained to some extent fromfthe sole portion thereof, it hasbeen found necessary to build thesole portion of several layers, and to that add suflicient rigidity in a longitudinal direction to 7give the neces'-` sary .support and bracing effect to VtheV arch of the foot. As avresult'it has been found. that the vertical stresses thus: given `tothe sole of the shoe willydisrupt the llaminations y ofthe sole, lose the bracing effect to the Varchand distort the general contour of the vshoe itself. l Y f 1 Y I have found that the necessary support and bracing effect to the archofthe foot when a ballet dancers or toev dancers shoe is used inthe toe position, may be retained, that the disruptive tendencymay be avoid- .ed,.and the general shape or vcontour of` the shoe itself retained, if 'the sole portion of the shoe is formed arcuately, or further, if-it is formed sov that anybending tendency is towards the "direction of the sole of the foot and not away from it. vThe object, generally Of my invention, therefore, resides in the'provision o'f a toe dancers or ballet dancers shoe adapted tofbe used in a normal way,and for dancing on the toe position, having a built-up sole structure avoiding the use of materials which will lend'- discomfort 'and confined principally to leather ori the like ,and retaining the stiffness necessary in use,without the introductionof'wood or Ye'tal partsf'f A fu'rtherobjeot 'of my inventiony is to arcirately form the sole portion of ftheshoey so;that when used in thetoe positionithe bracing effect will be retainedfiand disruptive tendencies between theI several lamina'- tions of the sole `thereof Overcome.

further object of my inventionpresides in the provision of means for:retaining the arcuate .the sole of the shoe.

Astill further` object of my invention resides in theprovision of. a stiffening sole for a toe dancers shoe formed arcuately and associated therewith of means to retain such arcuate formation.y Y

I have further found that layofs7 in V dancing or discontinuous practice of dancing O'f the toe type variety,-and also walking on Frenchheels, has had detrimentall effects upon the muscles of Ithe leg, particularly the tendons which :have a tendency to shorten or become set in such position. I have' found that the requisite movem'ent of the foot from the flat position to the toe position-mayv be materially facilitated by Vmaintaining the soleof theV shoe in an arcu- 5 ate form and raised somewhat from the vfloor -level position!l l* v f l :V

I have further` found that by associating a heel, with a 'toe dancers shoe, particularly one arcuately formed, and of va size `which '3' covers asubstantial portion of thesolelof ithe'shoe,fthatthe movement from the flat position to the toe position may be effected 30 Ywith considerable ease, and at the. same time the introduction Aof such vheel member f* yretainsfthe necessary stiffness of thesole to givethe 4bracing effect in a transverse longi- Y tudinal direction when used in the toe position, and that where Vthe Vsole is formed of laminated layers, a separation or displace- `ment thereof will be prevented aswell as distortion ofthecontour ofthe shoe itself.

Af-further `object of my invention resides inthe provision in`A aftoe dancers shoe of a, heelmember; further"i1rthe provision offaheel member arcuately maintaining the sole of a toe dancers shoe, vand further v'ofia size covering a material portion of the 95 lsoleso as. to' maintain the same in an arcuate form. v 'l v To attain these Objects or such further objects as may appear' herein or' behereinafter pointed out, Il make reference'to the 100 accompanying drawing forming a part hereof,- in which- -Fig..:l is a'pl'an `viewof a toe dancers shoe with portions in section; ,Fig.'-.2 is a side elevation of a toe dancers 105 foot inthe toe position with invention shown lin section. f f Fig. 3 is a plan view looking in the direction of the sole partly .broken away to disclosethe layers. y Y 1 VReferringparticularly,to .the drawing, 10 is a shoe proper, theouter'norton of top thereof being preferably made of fabric material 12 which may be satin, silk, leather or the like, the lining material 13 finished off at the edge by tape 14 which is formed to have a drawstring 15 for adjustment and tightening, which will be apparent. At the toe portion 16, I preferably introduce between the several layers padding material 1T to build the same up, and in the illustration shown such padding material 17 Yis interposed between the toe point 19 and the turned under inner sole '21 which is stiifened leather arcuately formed to assume an extremely arched formation similar to aliighly arched foot. To the inner sole thus formed, there is attached an additional stilfening sole 22, also arcuately formed, and is 'attached thereto by adhesive and staples or nails 24 in a suitable manner. This sole or stiffenin'g member so formed serves to hold the box toe layers at 25.

In my preferred form, the stiftening sole 22' is split along its rearmost portion at 27 to form an upper layer 28 and a lower layer 29. Between the several layers thus formed, there is interposed a `member 30 which is shaped at its uppermost portion 31 vsimilar to the arcuate formation of the arch of the shoe, preferably shaped, and is to take on the form of a heel. The split portion 29 of the stiffening member is attached to the fore'- most portion of the heel at- 32 and is turned over the bottom face at 33 and affixed by adhesives suchl as glue or nails or a combination thereof. Over this turned .over layer, there is afiixed a wear layer, preferably a sheet of leather 34. The shoe top layer 12 may be tucked underneath the upper layer 28 and the top portion of the heel 30.

Although above, I have described the stiffening layer 24 as made up of a split rearmost portion, it will be observed that I may also form the same of two separate layers Vcombined in any suitable way at the portion in front of the heel, between which the heel Vis interposed, and although I have described the means for maintaining the arcuate position by a heel, I also contemplate making such arcuate stiffening means of dimensions less than that customarily worn.

`It will be observed that a shoe of the nature herein described when used in the toe position as illustrated in Fig. 2, in which 4 view 35 is the foot and 36 the toe, and the skeleton thereof 37 is shown in phantom. By reason of the shoe being strappediirmly upon the foot, sufficient frictional contact is obtained, so that inthe toe position a bracing effect is had when thus used in a vertical position. The sole being arcuately formed when resting upon the toe position., will bear against the sole or arch of the foot and any vertical stresses imparted to the Asole when used in a vertical position will be displaced against the arch of the foot rather than from it. vAnd where the outer-sole of the shoe is of different length at the toe portion than the inner sole, tending to cause a displacement of thelaminations when the foot is in the to@ position by the arrangement herein, the several layers or laminations of the shank or sole of the shoe will. not be severed from each other, but will have the tendency to be forced against each other and therefore be retained together against displacement.

In use in the transverse position, the layers or sole portion will have additional stiffening effect due to the fact that it cannot be displaced from the position against the sole of the foot, the arcuate formation being retained by reason of the lmethod in which the layers are combined, or as in the' preferred form when the heel is attached; This latter construction further makes this type of shoe serve 'a double purpose, particularly when used in performances wherein characters other than the customary ballet dance is portrayed, such as for instance, Spanish effects or Mexican effects, wherein heel and toe turns are to be executed by the dancer.

This Ytype of heel shoe in connection with a toe of the character' above described, A

makes it readily possible for the dancer to assume the toe position without any di'liiculty, particularly where the softened toe increases the frictional engagement with the floor andthe heel of the foot has been raised to some extent from the ground by the heel member attached to the shoe. This has been found particularly desirable and useful to toe dancers who have had occasion to dis,- continue dancing for any' period so that their muscles or tendons are not as pliable as when flexed to the fullestextent, and have become somewhat shortened due to non-use. The aid derived in having the foot assume a position off the floor aids materially therefore to assume the toe position as well as giving the desirable novel costume appear` ance. y

Having fully described my invention, 'what claim as Anew and desire. to 'cover by Letters Patent, is

1. In a toe dancers shoe, wherein the sole is used as a compression member ina longi- CII against the'soie of the foot when used in the toe position.

3. In combination, in a toe dancers slipper having a toe portion adapted to be used for executing dance steps inthe toe position, of a stiffened sole arcuately shaped. said sole being split along the rearward portion thereof, and a member interposed between such split portions in the form of a heel for maintaining said sole portion in an arcuate conformation.

4. In combination, in a toe dancers shoe having a toe portion adapted to support the foot for executingva dance step in the toe position, of a stiffened arcuately'shaped solo therefor, comprising laminated portions one of which is divided along a portion of itslength, forming a bridge member serving to maintain said sole in arcuate conformation and a Vheel member between said divided portion to retain said bridge member and sole in arcuate conformation.

In witness whereof, I have signed and sealed this specification, this 9th day of December, A.. D. 1924.

(Mrs.) JULIA LOLA SOLOMONOFF. 

